Tuesday, August 04, 2009

No word on the job front yet. However, it has given us a chance to check out our new house and begin preparations to move into our actual home. It is a bit roomier than we thought it would be (still not huge of course), but there are some issues.

-It needs paint on both the inside and outside. Before the outside can be repainted, it needs to be resided and some wood needs to be replaced.-There is termite damage in what will be our den. Part of the floor has aready been replaced, making it uneven. They are supposedly going to spray for termites and we will cover the offending area with a thick rug, and hopefully that helps.-The front door doesn't close all the way unless it's deadbolted.-The ceiling fan in the living room doesn't work.-There is large overgrowth in the backyard, which we've already seen houses rodents and possibly snakes and other unfriendlies.-Within minutes of going in the (still empty) house, both Jay and I were covered in fleas. I've gotten in the habit of using a bug spray every day, so I didn't get bitten by them. But Jay has 19 separate bites on his ankles & legs.

There are a few other, more minor things that need to be fixed but they are not as high priority. There's enough wrong with the place that under normal circumstances, I wouldn't rent it. The reason we are taking it now is because Jay's sister will be our landlord. We need to rebuild our credit (I'm in debt consolidation and Jay just claimed bankruptcy), and we still get to act like we own the place: any changes we make will just add to the value when we move out & Jessica sells it. Conversely, if we decide we like it enough, we can buy it and sell it later ourselves.

I mean, there's some good to it too. It's a HOUSE. It's cheaper than our apartment in Michigan was. There are brand new appliances, including a washer & dryer. It has a yard, which has garden space (both vegetable and flower!). We're only a hundred yards away from Jessica's place (where we currently live). And you know what, the house is darn cute!

Today was spent scrubbing the walls and floors. Apparently they were smokers and had a cat, so the place was FILTHY! I was kind of annoyed that we had to clean someone else's dirty house, but I guess it's our comeuppance for leaving our last place such a wreck. (oops) We went and bought some insect bombs to set off tonight so hopefully there will be less bugs. Tomorrow we'll be putting the primer in the living room & bedroom, and Thursday we paint! We don't have the money to do all the rooms right now, so we're doing the main ones - the others can wait. So in theory, we move all of our stuff out of Jessica's garage (and our tiny temporary bedroom - lodgings) on Friday. Normal life can resume.

Yeah Don't forget to take before and after photos. That sort of hard work is kind of fun because it's for you. Btw you didn't mention the most important part of any house in my book--what were the closets like?